The Face of the Millennial Anti-Abortion Movement

“The right to abortion is not a real right,” says Lila Rose, the founding president of the pro-life organization Live Action, in a new documentary from The Atlantic. Rose first attracted national media attention in 2008, when, under the tutelage of James O’Keefe—the conservative provocateur who brought down ACORN—she orchestrated multiple undercover sting operations at Planned Parenthood. In a statement, Planned Parenthood said, “Live Action has a history of doctoring video [and] making false claims, and has no credibility.”

Rose is no longer a scandal-making firebrand. Recently, she has remarketed herself as a “human-rights activist” at the forefront of a culture war. Her polished public persona inverts the talking points of modern feminism.

“The popular narrative has been that abortion is going to somehow empower women,” Rose says in the film, “when we know that it’s an act of violence against our children.”

In the film, Rose states her goal plainly: to effectually reverse Roe v. Wade. To this end, she pushes out anti-abortion content on social-media platforms every day to an audience of millions.

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